Changing the Future through the Past
by Razial
Summary: The Dominion war continues to wage across the galaxy and a simple mission for the crew of the Defiant turns into so much more when they are sent into the past.
1. Chapter 1

Changing the Future through the Past

Author: David Mycock  
Beta: Hawklan

Disclaimer: I do not own Star Trek or any of its connected media or characters. They belong to Gene Roddenberry and I also do not own Buffy the Vampire Slayer or any of its connected media or characters and I also do not own Highlander or any of its connected media or characters.

Paring: Julian/Jadzia Xander/Cordelia

Summary: The Dominion war continues to wage across the galaxy and a simple mission for the crew of the Defiant turns into so much more when they are sent into the past.

Notes: changes to certain characters can be expected in this, but not by much and I may also change certain events depending on how and where I chose to place this story.

Chapter 1

(USS Defiant)

Julian Bashir stared at the computer console in boredom. He tried to concentrate on what he was doing, but as was normal recently his mind was elsewhere. His mind was once again playing the 'what if' game on him about Jadzia.

He had missed his chance of ever gaining her affections now that Worf had come into the picture. Ever since that damn Klingon had turned up he had been forced to watch Jadzia fall for the supposed great warrior. In truth it made his heart ache just thinking about it. He should have confessed his feelings for Jadzia a long time ago, but he had been too hesitant.

He sighed as he stood up and paced a little. He tried to distract himself, but it wasn't working very well. The ship suddenly shook violently, which made him reach out for the bulkhead to steady himself, as the tremors finally abated and he wondered what was going on.

The mission they were on was a simply scouting of the Cardassian border to see what the Dominion was up to lately. The war was currently in a stale mate, but he was sure it would reignite soon enough.

Turning back to his thoughts he ran a hand through his hair and wished that he had done or said anything to Jadzia before Worf had entered the picture. He finally shook the depressing thoughts off and went back to reading the medial text he had been going trough before. In the end it was Jadzia's choice with whom she went and it seemed she had chosen Worf. As her friend he guessed he would have to do his best to be happy for her, as she seemed to be pleased with her choice. Yet part of him disagreed greatly with this. Maybe if he admitted his true feelings for her she might change her mind. If she knew just how deeply he loved her then maybe she might chose him instead, but again he was too hesitant to take the risk.

On the bridge Benjamin Sisko sat in the command chair and watched the stars pass by the view screen. He wondered if they were close to any Cardassian and Dominion ships, as they were now very close to the border.

So far the mission had been quite and he took a small look around the bridge. O'Brien was busy talking with Kira on one side, although he noted Kira was keeping an eye on the scanner every now and then. On the other side, Worf was trying to talk to Jadzia who concentrated on keeping the ship in Federation space and not crossing the border and was none committal in their conversation.

Worf seemed a little put out at this, but soon turned his attention back to his station. He didn't know quite what to think of the developing relationship between the Trill and Klingon.

It had come out of nowhere as far as he was concerned, even with Jadzia's love for the Klingon culture, it just seemed a little rushed to him and he just hoped Jadzia was not letting her love for that culture plus Curzon's personality influence her choice. His thoughts were soon cut off by a powerful tremor that made the ship shake violently and he quickly refocused on the mission at hand. He quickly checked the view screen but saw nothing visible and defiantly no ship.

"Report?" he ordered.

"We ran into another subspace fluctuation Benjamin," Jadzia reported, but when she turned to face him he noticed her confused and yet worried look.

"Problem?" he inquired and leaned forward.

"That is the second fluctuation we have hit during this mission and both times we did not pick them up on the sensors before we hit them, which is unusual," Jadzia replied, as she moved from the controls to the science console and began to input commands.

Sisko let her work. He knew Jadzia would work out whatever the problem was quicker without him constantly asking her questions. He leaned back in his chair and waited. The second the third tremor hit the ship he began to suspect there was indeed a problem and he quickly jumped to his feet and joined Jadzia who continued to check her readings.

"This is strange Benjamin I can find no readings at all, nothing that indicates any subspace fluctuations in the area at all, which should not be possible" Jadzia finally said. "I have never seen a fluctuation form without something to indicate it is forming, something else is going on, I just can't think what," she added.

"Could there be a danger to the ship?" Sisko inquired, as he watched her return to the console again and try to reconfigure the sensors.

"It's possible, but I can't say for sure," Jadzia responded with a frustrated shake of her head, just as another tremor shook the ship. "These tremors seem to be coming faster and faster," she advised him.

Sisko nodded in agreement. So far he had felt four to five tremors hit his ship and the more of them they were the more often they would come he bet.

"Prepare to alter course," he ordered. He decided that being careful was the best thing for now, until they could understand what was going on in this area of space.

He quickly retook his seat and watched as Jadzia returned to the controls and prepared to move them away from the area. He waited, but nothing happened and he hoped nothing had gone wrong.

"I can't move us, it's like we're stuck," Jadzia reported, as she input commands, but failed to move the ship.

"Captain, sensors are picking up approaching ships," Kira reported from one side.

"Damn it," Sisko growled as the mission began to fall apart. "Red alert, raise shields and ready all weapons," he ordered. "Can we cloak?" he inquired.

"The cloak's not working, the fluctuations are somehow interfering with it," O'Brien reported and added in a curse as he tried another command.

"The ships are Dominion and their weapons are powered up," Kira reported. "We might have just walked into a trap," she suggested.

"Anything is possible Major," Sisko said, but privately he wondered if she just may be right. This could have been a trap laid to catch any Starfleet vessel coming near the border.

If they got out of here with their skin intact, then he would have to make sure all further ships sent here were warned. He watched as the approaching ships got bigger and bigger on the view screen. Before he could give the order to open fire the Dominion ships fired their own weapons. They scored direct hits five times, which knocked most of the bridge crew out of their seats.

"Shields down to 70% and they knocked out our photon torpedoes," Kira told him.

"Fire all phasers and do whatever you can to get our torpedoes back on line," Sisko ordered. "Dax, is there any way to escape these damn fluctuations?" he asked, as the ship shook again as they were hit.

"I'm working on it Benjamin," Jadzia replied before going back to her science station, whilst an ensign took over the con.

Back below in sickbay Julian already tended to wounded crew members and cursed the Dominion for attacking them. He cursed them for starting the damn war in the first place. He had seen too much death lately and what he truly feared was that one day he could lose Jadzia or any of his close friends to this war. He had already suffered some losses from old friends and former classmates from the academy, but he was sure if he lost any of his current close friends it would hurt all the more, especially if Jadzia ended up dying. He shook that thought off and concentrated on saving the life of Ensign Taylor.

The Defiant buckled a little as it continued to be pounded by the Dominion's weapons, but its armor and shields held, back on the bridge Sisko continued to give orders, but he began to worry that they would not be getting out of this.

"Benjamin, I have an idea on how to break the subspace fluctuations, but you are not going to like it," Jadzia said, as she looked up from the science console.

"I'll take any plan right now old man," Sisko replied as he glanced at her. "What is it?" he asked.

"We fire a confined plasma beam into the fluctuations as well as detonate two photon torpedoes at the same time right below us," Jadzia answered.

"Combined it might be enough to either shake us loose or break the area around us of the fluctuations themselves, either way it's the only thing I've got right now," she explained.

"It could also destroy us if the torpedoes are close enough to the hull," Worf objected, not liking the idea at all.

"We don't have a choice Worf. We are stuck, fighting against the odds and getting hammered," Jadzia argued. "We have to take the risk," she stressed.

Sisko looked at the two before looking across at Kira and O'Brien, who both nodded in agreement with Dax. "Do it. Launch two torpedoes for remote detonation and configure the confined plasma beam and fire when ready," he ordered, hoping against hope this would work.

Worf grumbled, but did as he was ordered and launched the two torpedoes whilst Dax and O'Brien readied the plasma beam. They continued to fire at the enemy destroying two of the attacking ships, but leaving three still in the fight.

"We're ready Benjamin," Jadzia reported and glanced at her captain.

"Then fire the beam old man. Worf detonate the torpedoes a moment later," Sisko ordered, as he said a silent prayer and watched.

On the view screen they watched the plasma beam came into being, strangely as soon as the beam was on, they could almost make out a gas cloud all around them. Jadzia quickly took scans, but could see nothing was picked up. Worf counted down and then pressed the control that would explode the torpedo.

A huge shock-wave shook the ship like never before, whilst the gas cloud seemed to expand and explode around them. It turned bright white, so much that they had to shield their eyes. Suddenly warning sensors began to go off all over the bridge. Jadzia pulled herself back up and checked the readings and was shocked and horrified by what she saw.

"Benjamin, somehow we've triggered a temporal event. The cloud whatever it is has transformed into a large collection of temporal particles," she reported. "We're caught right in the middle of it," she added.

"Damn it. Is there anything you can do?" Sisko asked, really not wanting to get pulled back in time again and he especially did not want another visit from temporal investigations when he got back.

"Sorry Benjamin, I don't think there is," Jadzia replied, as the readings built up. "Temporal event in five, four, three, two, one," she countered down.

All they could do was watch, as a large flash of white, yellow and gold engulfed the view screen as the ship was flung back in time. They had no idea how they had triggered such an event, but the only conclusion Jadzia had was that the cloud and the fluctuations had been more than they seemed.

Time slowed and the crew held onto their seats as they seemed to travel through space, as well as time.

In sickbay Julian pressed against the bulkhead as the ship shook. His patients had all been locked into stasis fields to keep them on the bio beds. Thankfully Jadzia had time to warn him that things might get bumpy. Some of the wounded were in serious condition, but so far no one had died and he was determined not to lose anyone now.

Finally the shaking stopped as did the movement of the ship and the view of the stars returned to the view screen. Jadzia quickly began to take readings and sensor sweeps. What she found was not only impossible, but disturbing as well, she had no clue how it could be.

"Benjamin, you are not going to believe this, but not only have we traveled backwards in time, somehow we have also moved halfway across the galaxy," she reported. "We are at this moment in time, in orbit of the moon Luna," she informed him.

"What?" Sisko said. He got out of his chair and moved to the science console and checked the readings himself. "How is that even possible?" he asked.

"I don't have a clue Benjamin," Jadzia replied, somewhat frustrated by her lack of understanding of what had just happened. "At the moment all I have is speculation that the cloud we saw was not what it appeared to be," she continued.

"Bashir to bridge," Julian's voice came over the comm. system.

"Go ahead Doctor," Sisko answered.

"What just happened?" the doctor asked.

"We somehow triggered a temporal effect and have been slung backwards in time and somehow moved to the sol system. Before you ask, we do not know how just yet," Sisko informed him. "Did we suffer any casualties, doctor?" he asked.

"None so far, however we do still have two seriously wounded crewmen, but I am hopeful they will recover in time," Bashir reported. "The other wounded from the attack should be able to return to duty in a few hours," he added.

"That is good news doctor, Sisko out," Sisko replied, before he switched the com off. "Chief, how is the ship?" he asked while he turned to O'Brien.

"She took some bad hits Captain. The cloak is back up, however phasers and torpedoes are both off line at the moment and our warp drive is also currently down," O'Brien replied. "Blasted Dominion dregs," he cursed.

"I suggest we cloak, sir," Worf spoke up finally. "If we have truly gone back in time, then it would not do any good if this ship was picked up by any past sensors or seen on computers who can detect us," he cautioned.

"Good idea Mr. Worf," Sisko agreed. "Major, engage the cloak. Jadzia do we know where in time we are yet?" he ordered the Major and asked Dax.

"I think somewhere in the twentieth century, if my readings are anything to go by," Jadzia replied. "I also picked up news broadcasts and detected satellites in orbit around Earth, which seems to be from that area," she informed him.

"Not good," Sisko said with a sigh. "Why is it that whenever a Starfleet vessel ends up displaced in time, we always end up in the twentieth century?" he asked no one in particular.

"What do we do Captain?" Kira asked, not liking the situation she found herself in, as the last time they were stuck in the wrong period of time they almost ended up seeing all of the future changed.

"First we need to find out exactly when and where we are, so I'll lead a landing party to Earth to find that out. Second we need to find out how we got here and what triggered the temporal effect and if it can be reversed," Sisko answered, after he thought it over for a few minutes. "Third if it can't be reversed we will need to find a new way home. We have to be very careful not to change anything or we could end up wiping out our own future and that is not something I intend to be responsible for," he continued, as he looked around at his crew. "Ok let's get to it. Jadzia set course for a low orbit around Earth and then you, me and the Doctor will beam down and see what we can find out," he added.

"Understood Benjamin," Jadzia nodded. She knew that she could easily pass for human and that if anyone asked about her spots she can just say it is a tattoo, as she did the last time they were stranded in this timeframe.

"Chief, I want you to work on repairing the weapons and warp drive, as best as you can," Sisko continued.

The Chief just nodded and knew that would be an uphill struggle, if it was a serious problem.

"Major I want you to lead the science teams in finding out if we can reverse whatever brought us here," he added and glanced at the Major, who also nodded. "Worf you are in command until we get back. Under no circumstances are you to do anything that compromises this ship or reveals it to the people on that planet is that understood?" he asked, as he turned to the Klingon.

Worf felt slightly insulted that the Captain could even think he might do either of these things, but managed to stop himself from saying anything. "Yes Sir. I understand," was all he said, as he moved over to take the captain's chair.

"Sisko to Bashir," Sisko said. "Doctor I want you to meet myself and Jadzia in the transporter room and have the computer replicate some twentieth century clothes to wear. We have to blend in," he ordered.

"Understood captain, I'll be there," Bashir responded.

Sisko nodded to Worf before he left the bridge with Dax behind him. They both headed to their own quarters and replicated twentieth century clothes for themselves, before they headed for the transporter room.

Jadzia had to keep a smile off her face as she noted the almost gobsmacked look Julian had on his face for a moment, when she appeared. She was dressed in a tight fitting white blouse and a knee length skirt.

It seemed that Julian liked what he saw and a small part of her enjoyed knowing she could still catch his attention and then she had to remind herself she was supposed to be starting up a relationship with Worf.

She had decided that Julian did not have any real feelings for her and so she had pushed aside any attachments she felt for him and turned to Worf, who as a Klingon intrigued her very much. Since the joining, she had always had a strong fascination for Klingons and their culture, driven on by her previous host Curzon. She had already skirted the edges when she had fulfilled the blood oath Curzon had taken with Kang, Koloth and Kor.

She sometimes wondered if she was allowing Curzon to influence her more than was healthy, glancing at Julian she noted he was trying to regain his composure and only gave her a small smile before he looked away.

"Ok we keep together and do not do anything that makes us stick out," Sisko told them, as he grabbed three tricorders and phasers from the supply cupboard next to the transporter and handed them out. "We keep a low profile and look for evidence of what the exact date is and especially what year. We should also look for any clue to what is going on at the moment on Earth," he continued.

"Do you believe we may find any clues as to how we got dragged here on Earth?" Julian inquired, as he accepted the tricorder and phaser.

Sisko considered the idea for a few minutes, but he doubted it, unless it was possible some unknown alien species was behind their journey through time and space. If aliens were behind this then they could have some kind of presence on Earth. The question that rose was what was their plan? He was disturbed that anyone may be attempting to change Earth's future. It would make getting back home very hard.

"I don't think so, but I guess it couldn't hurt to look, just in case there is more going on here than a simple accident," Sisko conceded. "It is possible an alien race is behind this and has plans for Earth," he continued. "So keep your eyes open," he ordered, before he took his place on the transporter pad.

"Energize," he said to Ensign Williams, who stood waiting at the transporter controls.

The ensign nodded and quickly activated the controls and then engaged the transporter and watched as the Captain, Doctor and Science officers vanished. She did a quick check to ensure they had made it to the planet surface, before locking the transporter down and moving on to her other duties.

(Sunnydale, California)

Xander Harris ran through the park with his girlfriend Cordelia Chase as fast as they could. They had encountered a damn vampire during their date, which had started off well with a trip to the cinema to watch the latest blockbuster 'The Bourne Ultimatum'. They had engaged in a few deep kisses during the film, but as before he had never pushed for more than she was willing to give. He did not want to risk his relationship with Cordelia by letting his hormones rule him.

After watching the movie they had gone and had something to eat at the nearby café. Once they had finished they had decided to head home and he had insisted on walking her back to her house first. It was on their way there that they had encountered the vampire only to realize they had no stakes on them. A very simple error, but also a very dangerous one, that could lead to their deaths, if they did not somehow shake the vampire of their trail as they ran. They were just reaching the middle of the park when the most shocking thing they had ever seen happened. Three people seemed to appear out of thin air. They came to a complete stop and just stared at the newcomers, who quickly noticed their presence and both Xander and Cordelia noted the look of shock and then dismay that crossed the three people's faces. A growl behind them made them quickly spin around to see the vampire charging them.

Xander quickly pushed Cordelia out of the way and took the charge dead on, sending him sprawling onto the ground where he began to grapple with the undead corpse trying to kill him. Cordelia looked on in worry as Xander struggled to get away.

Likewise Sisko, Julian and Jadzia all watched the fight progress, however when Xander finally managed to heave the vampire away they all noted the ridged forehead, fangs and yellow eyes and quickly pulled their phasers.

The vampire growled and charged again only this time at Cordelia, but Julian quickly discharged his phaser and was shocked when the stun setting only made the vampire stumble. He quickly raised the setting and fired again. The vampire was vaporized inches from Cordelia's throat. They watched as the two teens comforted each other for a few moments.

Sisko was already trying to work out how to ensure that no change to the timeline occurred, as these two people had seen them beam in. On the heels of that he was trying to work out exactly what the thing attacking them had been, as it was unlike anything he had seen before.

Julian was trying to get a reading off his tricorder on the two humans they had encountered without it being seen, whilst Jadzia was keeping an eye out for anymore trouble. She too was thinking on what the attacker might have been.

Xander finally let go of Cordelia relieved the threat had been dealt with, but now they had to deal with the three newcomers who had appeared out of nowhere. He turned to face them and noted they were now watching them wearily.


	2. Chapter 2

Changing the Future through the Past

Chapter 2

(USS Defiant)

Miles O'Brien was annoyed, as he tried to find out just what the problem with the warp drive was. He was getting fed up of constantly fixing the blasted thing. The war had pushed repair efforts overboard on the station, as well as the ship, so he was nearly always busy. Sometimes it wasn't so bad, but at other times it could be a real headache.

He continued to work as he noted Thompson and Williams begin to look into fixing the weapons systems, as he had ordered. He hoped it was not anything serious, as they may need the weapons when they reversed whatever sent them here. It would most likely transfer them back to where they had been and that meant facing the Dominion ships, which had attacked them. Sighing, as he failed yet again to find the problem he got up and went to his work bench to get some more tools, only to sigh again when he noted Worf had just entered engineering. Whilst he was friends with the Klingon and got on with him, sometimes his constant checking up on things got on his nerves and right now it was not what he needed. He just nodded to him and continued to work.

"What is the status of the warp drive Chief?" Worf asked, just as O'Brien expected he was here to do.

"Still offline, as I cannot locate the problem, we have impulse power only until then," he replied and kept his eyes fixed on the engine, as he ran his diagnostic tricorder over it.

"We must have full power restored," Worf responded, irritated not to have a fully functional ship to command.

"I know that Commander, but until I can find what the problem is I cannot do much to fix it," O'Brien countered. "As you know very well there are a hundred different systems that could have been damaged during the fight. It takes time to locate the exact one," he continued finally facing Worf. "But I am confident I will find it. Now if you will excuse me Worf, I'm busy," he finished before turning back to his work.

Worf stood there for a few seconds unused to being so easily dismissed by the Chief, but he finally turned and left and headed back to the bridge. He guessed the Chief did not like being interrupted when he was trying to fix the engine. Arriving back on the bridge he noted Kira and a small group of crew members trying to work out how they have been shot back in time. He had no desire to interrupt them and so just sat in the captain's chair and hoped they could return soon.

(Sunnydale)

Sisko really did not know what to say to the two humans they had run into, especially as they had seen them transport in. He was also a little confused, as this did not look like San Francisco which is where he had ordered them beamed too. Jadzia had also come to that conclusion and was running a quick scan to check their coordinates, whilst Julian was still trying to work out what the creature that had attacked them had been. Xander and Cordelia remained wary but refused to leave for now.

"Benjamin, something must have interfered with our transporters, as we did not end up in San Francisco," Jadzia finally said as low as she could, not wanting to be overheard.

"Where did we end up Dax?" Sisko asked while turning his attention to his friend.

"Somewhere in California, I don't know the exact location, but I am getting some very strange readings on my tricorder from the surrounding area," Jadzia answered.

Sisko frowned at this and checked his own tricorder, as did Julian who had heard what Jadzia had said. They were both confused by the readings they were picking up. They had never seen readings like this before and they were sure if they had been on Earth in their time they would have been a report of it, so what was going on? That was the question running through their minds at the moment.

"I don't like this," Sisko said. "Something seems very off," he added, as he looked around the mostly empty park.

"I agree Benjamin, whoever interfered with our transport must be also responsible for us being here," Jadzia concluded.

Across from them Xander and Cordelia tried to listen in on their conversation, but could hear very little as they were talking in whispers. Xander was getting a little annoyed at been ignored and was wondering just who the strangers were.

"What do we do?" Cordelia asked him while she still tried to get over how close to being killed they had been.

"I don't know. They appeared out of nowhere and somehow vaporized that vampire," Xander replied. "I don't think they are a threat or they would have killed us by now," he added, trying to sound reassuring. "For now I suggest we wait until they finish talking and then see what they want," he suggested, glancing at her and expecting a rather aggressive counter.

Cordelia stared at her boyfriend, as she thought over what he had said and whilst it made sense to her, she was still somewhat uneasy about remaining in the park, but she had come to trust Xander more and more as their relationship strengthened and deepened, especially after the Valentine's Day debacle. That had taught her to trust in him and their bond a lot more than she had before, it had also taught her to allow for a more equal footing in their relationship.

"Ok, but if they are evil I am so kicking your ass when we get home," she finally replied with a small glare, which Xander accepted and looked back to the newcomers.

Sisko decided to put the readings to one side for now, whilst they tried to limit the damage done by being seen beaming in. He stepped forward towards the two teens, which backed off slightly, so he stopped and held his hands up in a gesture of peace.

"We mean you no harm and I am sorry we startled you," he began very unsure what he could say in this situation. "May I inquire just what that thing that attacked you was?" he asked, deciding getting this out of the way was a good way to start.

Xander and Cordelia exchanged unsure looks whether to actually tell them the truth or not. They decided because they were strangers it may be best that they have some warning and it would not get back to anyone they knew either.

"It was a vampire," Xander finally said, expecting them to react with either surprise or annoyance. "This town is infested with them, as well as demons," he added.

"Impossible," Jadzia argued. "There is no such thing as vampires and defiantly not on Earth," she added and forgot where she was for the moment "We would have found evidence well before hand," she stressed.

"Doubt it," Cordelia shot back, not to sure what to make of the newcomers, but there was something about them that was very off. "They've been hiding in the shadows for centuries, hell up until last year we didn't even know they existed," she countered.

Julian looked back to notice that Jadzia looked very unsure at this response, whilst Sisko seemed to think the two people were nuts. He looked back and ran a scan over them, hiding his tricorder as best he could. What it showed was surprising especially what he was getting from the male teen. It showed three different brain patterns linked together, which should have been impossible.

"Captain, they are not lying at least not according to my scan," he whispered to Sisko.

Sisko glanced at Julian before he looked back at the two teens and wondered if somehow they had changed the timeline just by coming back. There was no way this could be real could it? He asked himself. He was sure that if such things had existed on Earth in the past, then there would be some record of it in the future, but all there was were myths and legends and all of them sounded ridiculous to someone trained to see things through science and logic. He took a deep breath and thought it over for a few minutes, maybe there were some records about this in the ships database, but what they needed first was more information.

"My name is Benjamin Sisko and these are my friends Julian Bashir and Jadzia Dax and you would be?" he introduced them and then waited for their names.

"Xander Harris and this is my girlfriend Cordelia Chase," Xander replied and was curios about the strange name of the woman, as it did not sound human, but he saw no signs of her being something else.

Cordelia was having the same thought, but she doubted that if they were demons they would introduce themselves. She glanced at Xander and noted he was somewhat more alert than he had been and she guessed he didn't quite trust the newcomers just yet.

"May I ask where exactly we are?" Sisko asked, hoping they did not think the question too insane.

"Sunnydale California," Cordelia answered, barely keeping some annoyance out of her voice at the idea they could not know where they were, before she paused as she noted the complete lack of recognition in their eyes at the name.

Sisko could not recall ever hearing of a town called Sunnydale before and he also did not recall reading about one in the historical records. This was truly becoming a mystery. He felt the best bet was to send Dax back to the ship to run through the databanks for any information on their location and these people if there were any. He doubted it, but it could be important.

"How did you just appear out of thin air?" Xander finally could not stop himself from asking. Cordelia focused on the three very interested in this answer as well.

Sisko hesitated, as he had no idea on how to explain that and glanced at Julian and Jadzia. He could tell they had no good ideas either, he could tell the two teens were beginning to get impatient.

"That's a long story and not one we can get into right now," Sisko finally said and hold his hand up to stop their protest. "I'm sorry, but we really cannot discuss it," he added.

"Are you some kind of secret military unit?" Xander asked, beginning to get the feeling these three people were used to secrets and combat. It was in their stance and written on their faces as he finished speaking.

"I guess you could say that," Sisko said and hoped he was saying the right thing. "I must ask that you tell no one of our presence here and especially how we arrived," he added with as much authority as he could.

Xander absently stood to attention without even noticing, whilst Cordelia first looked at him in confusion at his actions before looking at the newcomers and wondered if they were telling the truth. Something still did not add up here.

"Now I would suggest you go home," Sisko said, before he turned and headed north to put as much distance as he could between them and the teens, so they could beam out and do some research and plan a better landing party.

Xander watched them go for a few moments, before he decided they best get out of here before they ran into anymore vampires, as he walked Cordelia home he thought back to the meeting and wondered just what those three people were doing in Sunnydale.

Sisko took a look around before he contacted Ensign Williams to beam them back to the ship, as he felt the familiar sensation of being transported he felt relief to be returning to his ship and that surprised him.

Xander finally began to relax as he kissed his girlfriend goodnight outside her door. They had been lucky not to run into any other threats on their way back and next time he promised not to forget to bring a damn weapon to protect them both.

Cordelia was debating with herself whether to let Xander walk home by himself or to invite him inside for the night, as her parents were thankfully away. She was worried that he may run into more trouble and so finally she made her choice and pulled him inside and shut the door before he could ask stupid questions.

(USS Defiant)

Julian quickly headed for sickbay to run some scans on the readings he had taken not only from the two teens, but also from the surrounding area, whilst Jadzia headed for the bridge and her science console to do the same.

Sisko however headed for his quarters to take a small rest. His people knew their jobs and when they had something they would contact him and let him know what they found. Right now he needed to rest and think over what had happened and also plan for the worst.

In sickbay Julian looked over the readings as they were filtered through the numerous parameters he had set. He then turned and inputted the life scans he had taken of Xander and Cordelia. They were in good enough health, especially when he considered the time period they were in. He continued to input commands before going back to the other scans.

On the bridge Jadzia was busy doing her own tests, as well as running the computer searches Benjamin had asked her to do on Sunnydale and the two teens they had encountered. She very much doubted they would find anything on Xander or Cordelia, whilst it was possible they may be important people somewhere in the future she doubted any records had survived through the intervening years, especially through the third world war. She was also running a scan on vampires and demons. Here again she was very skeptical on what they would find, she did not believe in vampires and demons and found the idea they truly existed, especially on Earth of the past, ridiculous.

Worf was watching Dax work and was slightly annoyed she had not said anything when she had returned to the bridge. Their relationship was still in the very early stages and so he had to remind himself he could not expect her to obey traditional Klingon relationship rules. He leaned back in his chair and continued to think over recent events, ever since Kurn had come to the station he had felt very out of sorts. Having to lose his brother to ensure he lived was a reminder of all he had lost when he had chosen against supporting Gowron. He sometimes wondered if he had truly made the right choice.

Kurn now knew nothing of his real life and thought he was someone else, when he thought on this he wondered what his parents would have thought of his actions or even Kurn himself, had he discussed his plan with him first before taking action. He rubbed his eyes before he shook off the depressing thoughts as no matter what, he had made his choice and now he had to live with their consequences. He decided to go to his quarters and meditate leaving Kira in command.

(Sunnydale)

Xander lay on Cordelia's couch and was still very much surprised Cordelia had chosen to let him stay for the night. He had to admit their relationship had deepened a lot more than most people thought and they still had a way to go but less than he had used to think.

His mind turned back to the meeting with the strangers and he again wondered what their mission was in Sunnydale. Did the government now know what was truly going on at night? The memories he had from the soldier he had been possessed by on Halloween told him this would be a very bad thing. It showed him many troubling things the government might do. He sighed as he tried to fall asleep, but so far he was having very little luck. He wondered what Cordelia was doing unaware she had already fallen asleep.

(USS Defiant)

Julian continued to go over the readings of Sunnydale and was very confused by what he was seeing. It was almost as if the computer was showing him a radiation pattern all over the town, however it was unlike any other radiation he had seen before. A sudden beeping made him turn to the scans of Xander and Cordelia and he quickly looked over what the computer had found, as he read over the results his eyes widened, first in complete surprise, then in shock and finally in disbelief.

'It wasn't possible was it?' He asked himself, as he reread the data he was seeing again and then read it for a third time to be sure. He sat down in his chair and stared of into space.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Chapter 3

(USS Defiant, 7 hours later)

Jadzia was surprised to say the least when a partial record appeared on her PADD. She read what was there and frowned as she noted some of the words were either missing or cut in half which was annoying. However if she was reading this right, Sunnydale had disappeared into a sink hole four to five years from the current date. There were also some curious mentions of events that had caused it. Again if she was reading this right it talked about some kind of battle taking place. She almost dropped the PADD as she saw the word dem begin to form, but was cut off at the end and yet her mind filled in the rest... demon.

"You okay Dax?" Kira asked, coming up behind her friend and noticing her surprised and unsure look.

"I'm fine Nerys. I was just caught a little off guard at finding something on that town we found ourselves at," Jadzia responded with a small smile and a shake of her head. "Considering the date on the planet and where we just came from, the idea of a record surviving is mind boggling," she continued.

"I bet," Kira said with her own smile. "Kinda hard to believe, but sometimes these things survive the passage of time," she reminded her.

"I better show this to Benjamin," Jadzia said after a short period of silence. She got up and quickly departed the bridge, all but ignoring Worf as he tried to get her attention.

However instead of going to see Benjamin and report her findings she found herself heading to sickbay, to find Julian staring at a console in disbelief. She stayed quite and watched as he shook his head and began to pace, she could not remember him ever being so... worked up... was the only word she could find to describe his current state.

"Julian, are you okay?" she asked, finally alerting him to her presence.

Julian spun around at the sound of Jadzia's voice and forced himself to relax as best he could. He gave the Trill a small smile and tried to make her believe he was okay, but he knew she was not buying it.

"What is it Julian?" she asked again. "What has you in such a state?" she pressed.

"I was running a check on the scans I did of Cordelia and Xander and I decided to run a DNA check to see if it was possible they may have any descendants still alive in our time. A long shot considering things, but I thought it might be interesting to see the results anyway," Julian sighed, before he began to explain. "I mean how many chances are we going to get at this anyway?" he added.

"I see," Jadzia responded. "And what you found has you stressed?" she asked.

"Jadzia, Xander's DNA check showed a match in the data banks. The computer is sure there is a 90% probability that he is a part of my family tree," Julian admitted.

Now Jadzia was shocked to say the least at this piece of news. It did not seem possible, but a 90% probability factor was not to be ignored. How was this possible? None of what had happened in the last couple of hours was making sense to her and she could tell by looking at Julian that he was struggling for answers the same as her.

"Can I see the results?" she inquired.

"Of course," Julian replied and led her to the console and watched as she began to study the results. "I ran the scans three times and they each came back the same," he told her running a hand through his hair.

"I almost don't believe it Julian," Jadzia told him. She turned to face him and found his face inches from her own, much to her surprise as he had been looking over her shoulder. "But the computer seems pretty adamant about it," she added.

Julian did his best not to react to the fact that he was in such close proximity to Jadzia and even more to keep his eyes on her face and not on her lips. He had not meant to get so close. Jadzia could see the effort Julian was making in keeping his eyes off her lips and she began to suspect she might have been wrong in believing he did not feel anything for her anymore, which surprised her.

Finally looking away she went over the results of the scans once more and tried to stay focused on it, which was hard as her mind was now playing what if with her. Julian shook his head and pulled back and did his best to try and ignore what had just happened. It was a nice moment, but he had to remind himself she was supposed to be starting a relationship with Worf or already had done.

"If you think that is the only strange thing Jadzia, then have a look at this," Julian said and guided her to the console that showed the results from his brain scans of Xander.

"What am I looking at Julian?" Jadzia inquired not sure she was reading the screen right.

"Xander's brain scans shows he has three different brain patterns which are linked together," Julian answered. "Which should be impossible and what is more confusing is I do not know how it is possible," he continued. "I did not detect any alien parasites or other such things," he stated.

"None of this is making sense Julian," Jadzia said, beginning to get frustrated. "Here read this," she told him and handed over her PADD.

She watched as Julian read what she had found in the computer archives and noted how his eyes widened in surprise, it was probably the same look she'd had when she first found it.

"This is disturbing as well as amazing," Julian finally said. "The idea a record from this time could have survived to make it into our archives is just incredible, but what is disturbing is that the last word seems to form the word demon before it is cut off," he told her.

"I know, that is how I felt as well," Jadzia responded as she sat down. "Is it even possible there was an entire piece of history we knew nothing about? Is it possible there were vampires and demons running around the earth of the past?" she asked.

"I would say no way is it possible, had we not taken this trip and seen what we saw down there Jadzia. What we saw was not human and it was unlike anything else I've seen or ever heard of," Julian replied as he sat down as well and wondered what the hell was going on.

"Me either, and that is truly an amazing thing when you consider all the lives Dax has lived," Jadzia admitted with a smile. "In fact considering how this is turning out to be a real mystery, I am very interested in getting the answers to those questions and so is Dax," she added.

"Maybe we should tell the captain what we've found so far," Julian finally said, having enjoyed the conversation, but knowing they should get back to business.

"You're right," Jadzia agreed. "Download your results to a PADD and let's go see Benjamin," she told him before she stood up and headed for the captain's quarters, followed soon after by Julian.

(Sunnydale)

Xander yawned as he woke up, feeling a little sore from sleeping on the couch. For a few seconds he was confused as he looked around and took note of his surroundings and realised he was not at home. Then the previous nights events came back to him and he remembered he had stayed at Cordelia's after they had been attacked whilst on a date. He also recalled the strange events they had witnessed.

He was still not at all convinced by what they had been told. The guy in charge seemed very nervous as he spoke. Then there was the whole teleportation thing, as far as he knew mankind did not have that kind of technology yet. He guessed it could have been classified stuff, but still something about it just screamed wrong. He ran a hand through his hair before he saw Cordelia come down, dressed in nothing but her nightgown and felt his mouth go dry.

Cordelia hid the smile that graced her features as she noted Xander's response to seeing her in her nightgown. She had wanted to tease him and see what he would say or do. Risky and not something she would usually do, but the growing closeness between them was making her want to do things she would not usually consider. That did not mean she was going to rush things, no way was she ready for that kind of relationship yet. Heading into the kitchen she began to make them something to eat, she had given the maid the night off and so had to do this herself not that she minded.

Xander finally seemed to shake himself from his stunned stupor and got up and headed into the kitchen and did everything he could to keep his eyes on Cordelia's face. She looked even more incredible than usual. He shook his head and wondered for a few seconds if he was still asleep and just dreaming all this. He ran a hand through his hair and just waited for her to say something.

"Good morning," Cordelia finally spoke, still grinning at the look on his face. "I hope the couch was okay?" she inquired.

"Yeah it was okay Cor," Xander responded. "I found it a very comfortable couch, much better than the one I used to sleep on when I would stay over at Jessie's," he told her before looking away, feeling a sadness well up in him as he said the name.

Cordelia noted the look and his eyes told her he still felt the loss of his lost friend even now, she had little good memories of Jessie due to his obsession with her, but she knew he had been a good guy just a little over taken with his hormones. She knew all to well how close the two had been back in the day before Buffy had come into their lives. She moved away from the counter and pulled him into a hug.

"I know you still miss Jessie, but maybe just maybe he is in a better place now," she said trying to comfort him. "Maybe there really is a heaven. I mean there must be if there is a hell, right?" she added.

"I hope so," Xander replied holding her close for a few seconds before he began to get uncomfortable and moved away before anything embarrassing happened.

Cordelia nodded and then finished off the breakfast she was making for them both. They ate quietly at the table before washing the dishes and then having a separately shower and getting ready for school.

"Do you think we should tell Buffy and the others about what we saw last night?" she asked, as they got into her car.

"I don't think so. Let's keep it to ourselves for now," Xander answered after thinking it over. "Most likely they would not believe us anyway, I mean if we had not seen it ourselves would we believe it?" he asked. "Even for us it is a stretch of the imagination," he pointed out.

"You make a good point," Cordelia agreed as she started the car and took off, just missing her maid returning to the house. "I wonder what they were up to?" she mused as she thought over the meeting.

"Can't say, but something tells me they lied when they said they were special ops," Xander admitted his own thoughts on the matter. "The guy who seemed to be in charge was very nervous, more so than is normal for a ops guy being discovered by a couple of teens," he added his left over memories from Halloween telling him as much.

"Any ideas on who they were then?" she inquired. "And how they suddenly appeared out of thin air?" Cordelia added a second later.

"Not really Cor, but I don't think we have that kind of tech yet," Xander pointed out to her. "I mean it could be new or classified, but usually there are leaks about those kind of things," he continued, as they pulled into the car park of the school.

"So what, they are aliens?" Cordelia asked with a smile.

"Wouldn't surprise me one bit," Xander shot back with his own smile as they got out. "I mean come on, we live in a world where demons and vampires exists, so why not aliens?" he asked.

Cordelia just burst out laughing at the idea and placing her arm through his. They strolled into the school and were ignoring the looks she still received from some of the other rich kids for dating what in their eyes was a loser. She was well past caring about what they thought of her relationship with Xander these days, the disaster of Valentine's Day had showed her the error of caring about such things.

(USS Defiant)

Benjamin Sisko yawned as he heard the chime for his door and quickly got up and went to his bathroom and splashed some water onto his face. Looking into the mirror for a few seconds he noted how tired he looked before shaking his head and heading for the door. He opened the door and was not too surprised to see Jadzia standing outside with Julian close behind her. He looked them both over before inviting them in.

"I take it you've both found something?" he inquired as he sat down at his desk and faced them.

"Yes sir," Julian replied before handing over the two PADDs he had brought and began to explain what he had found.

Sisko listened and whilst the first part seemed a real mystery it was not exactly out of the realm of possibility. No what threw him for a loop was the fact that according to the computer Xander Harris was apart of Julian Bashir's family tree. It did not seem possible that they would run into anyone connected to the crew, not this far back. The odds were beyond anything he could imagine.

"Doctor, is there any chance the computer is wrong?" he inquired facing the younger man and looking him dead in the eyes.

"I do not see how sir," Julian answered as he considered it. "I ran the results three times and each time they came out the same. I know how strange all this is sir, but I can't think of anything else to explain it so it must be true," he explained. "Somehow, someway Xander Harris is connected to my family, maybe even the beginning of the branch that will lead to me," he stated.

"We don't know that Julian," Jadzia broke in. "He could be just a relative of the line that created you," she pointed out. "But I would suggest we be very careful if we go down again sir, it is possible we could be facing a paradox if Julian is correct," she suggested. "If this Xander is part of the line that will lead to Julian and he dies due to interference from us being here then we could loose Julian," she admitted, feeling a deep sadness and pain as she considered such a result.

Julian had been a friend from the minute she had gotten onto the same shuttle that had brought them both to Deep Space Nine. That friendship had grown over the last couple of years and she had to admit it could grow into far more if she wanted it too and if Julian really did have feelings for her and the idea of losing him was not something she wanted to contemplate.

"I would be wiped from existence, as if I was never born," Julian stated as he digested what his friend had said. "The minute you returned to the future you would forget I was ever a part of the crew," he added.

"Let's not get carried away here," Sisko cut in as he contemplated everything that had just been said. "We will take extreme measures to ensure we do not cause any paradox's whilst we are here, but our answers as to how and why we were brought here might be down on earth, so we will have to go back," he informed them. "Is there anything else?" he inquired.

"Yes Benjamin, I found a partial file in the archives which talks about Sunnydale falling into a sinkhole," Jadzia answered and handed over her own PADD.

Sisko read the file and felt shock and surprise hit him that something from this time period could survive all the way to their own time. Granted it was in bad shape and not a complete file, but still it was impressive. He too could not help but note how the last few letters seemed to make the word demon form.

"None of this is making sense," he finally spoke, wishing he could stand up and pace a little, but the quarters on the Defiant were small and with three people in it there was just no room. "We need answers and so we are going back tonight. We need to know just what the hell is going on," he concluded. "Have a security team, Worf and yourselves ready to go. We'll return to Sunnydale and see what we can find, not only on the truth of what we saw last night, but also see if we can find any alien presence on Earth," he told them.

"Of course Benjamin," Jadzia replied. "I suggest we all get some sleep before tonight then," she added to which Sisko nodded in agreement and watched as his friends left.

He quickly fell back onto his bed and began to fall asleep within minutes, but not before he wondered just what they would discover tonight when they beamed back down.

(Sunnydale)

Xander walked into the library having just had a very boring math class. Buffy and Willow were already inside with Giles discussing what they would be doing for patrol for tonight. Oz and Cordelia soon joined them after having English, they all sat down and relaxed.

"So how did your date go last night?" Buffy asked with a smile.

"It went great until the end. We ended up being chased by a damn vampire and sadly we had no stake on hand," Xander answered. "Hold up Buff, before you start telling us off. I know we got careless, but we managed to survive and stake the vampire," he added as he noted the look the blond was directing at him. "Next time we will be more careful," he assured her.

"You were lucky Xander, maybe you should be more aware of what you are doing instead of doting on Cordelia," Willow suggested, still finding it hard to believe her best friend was dating their childhood enemy.

"Hey back off Willow, ok it was stupid to forget what is really going on in the world, but we made it through ok," Cordelia shot back, seeing the jealousy rage in the red head's eyes. "It's not like you and Oz are any different when you go on a date or even Buffy and Angel," she argued. "So don't try and make it seem like we are the only ones who make mistakes," she finished.

"Cordelia has a point," Jenny Calendar said after just having entered and hearing the tail end of the argument. "We all get carried away when we are on a date. The danger we know exist fades into the background and we want to enjoy ourselves," she continued, as she sat next to Giles and shared a small smile with him before facing the teenagers. "Next time I am sure they will be far more aware of their surroundings, just be glad that luck was on their side this time," she stated.

"Jenny is right, be thankful they survived," Giles agreed.

"Ok Giles, we get the point," Buffy said wanting to avoid another argument between Willow and Cordelia. "So anything else happen last night?" she asked.

"Not a thing," Xander replied after exchanging a short glance with Cordelia, which was missed by the others except for Oz and Jenny.

Oz quickly dismissed the idea they were hiding anything, except something embarrassing and connected to their relationship. He doubted Willow wanted to hear it and it pained him she still obviously felt something for her best friend. However he was confident she would finally move on fully to him, he had to have hope that it would be the case.

Jenny however was far more practical and as she replayed the look she began to believe it was far more than a personal secret. She just did not know what it could be. However she decided to keep an eye on them and see if she could find any clues on what they were keeping secret from the rest of the group. Granted not that she had much room to talk in that regard, she was still hiding who she really was and why she was in Sunnydale. She feared just what would happen when the truth finally came out. Then again maybe, just maybe, it would not need to come out at all.


End file.
